Cape Town - Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele says recent signing Caio Marcelo Da Silva is gradually settling into their system after making his debut against Golden Arrows.
The 20-year old Brazilian, who joined the Soweto giants on transfer deadline day, was handed his bow in Wednesday's goalless draw against Abafana Bes'thende at the Orlando Stadium.
Jele feels Marcelo has proved he is a quality player and will get better with time.
"Marcelo is a good player, and he's been graduating step by step. I had to guide him because he's got a bit of a language (barrier)," Jele was quoted as saying by KickOff website.
"But so far, he's learning, and he played very well today. Obviously, as a player, there's some improvement that he needs to take (from the game).
"So, I'm happy as a captain to guide him. I'm hoping in the next game it will be the same as well."
Pirates coach Milutin Sredojevic was also impressed in the way his skipper was able to help the youngster settle into the game.
"I had coincidentally been present when he (Jele) had his first match (for Pirates), and today he took responsibility the way Tonic Chabalala accommodated him 12 years back," Sredojevic said.
"So, credit goes to Happy and the players that have accommodated (Marcelo), with acclimatising and adjusting properly.
"He played well for his first match, but there is still space to improve. He will improve. We were forced to make a tactical substitution, having in mind that we wanted to throw everything in attack.
"Otherwise, we are satisfied and happy, and we still see a very big space for him to improve, and room for him to develop."